Gravestone
by gingerbreadbear
Summary: He had no brave smiles to give her, only a broken heart. — machina x rem — semi-AU.


** gravestone**  
>machina x rem<br>(semi-AU for when the game is released)

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><p>On the day the Peristylium fell, it was raining.<p>

Machina stood at the entrance to the Peristylium, closing his eyes. In the eerie silence, he could still hear the screaming and the gunfire, the explosions and the desperate cries and the names spoken over cold bodies. But above it all, painfully louder than the rest, he heard Rem screaming over and over again for their teacher.

They had arrived too late to save anyone. Even as they cut down numbers of Milites soldiers, the same number of their own comrades fell. When they had finally reached the inner courtyard, death pervaded the air and rising smoke lingered over the school like an omen. And then they had watched helplessly as Kurasame himself, their teacher, was defeated at the hands of the Milites Empire. Rem had cried out and ran towards him, but Machina's strong arms caught her and held her back. She'd beaten at his chest and screamed and sobbed, but he never loosened his grip. Beneath his grim and stone-faced expression, he was already broken inside.

The Peristylium was now empty, its silent halls a sad remnant of its past grandeur. Only mere hours ago, it had been a brilliant school for magic — but all that remained of it was a place of death. The students of Class Zero and the few others who'd survived had already begun erecting gravestones for the dead.

Kurasame's gravestone stood proudly, almost mockingly, in the Peristylium's courtyard. Machina would glance at it sometimes and hope would swell in his heart at the thought that his teacher could come back, only to be crushed again. There was no coming back for Kurasame. Not from this.

Machina walked through the Peristylium's corridors, glancing into the classrooms he passed and imagining the students who had previously occupied them. Imagining the faces of the people whose lives had already been lost, until he couldn't bear to think of them any longer.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realise he had walked all the way to the inner courtyard until he caught sight of Rem through a doorway, standing outside in the rain in front of Kurasame's tombstone.

He frowned slightly, eyes softening with sadness. The rain was unrelenting now, falling so heavily that it was hard to see more than a few metres in front of him. Although drenched, Rem made no sign of moving.

Machina's jaw tightened as he debated how to approach her. Rem had always been there for him, whether he needed her or not, but what comforting words could he offer now? How could he support her when he was just as torn inside? He had no brave smiles to give her, only a broken heart.

Exhaling heavily, he stepped out into the rain and shivered. Within seconds, he was just as soaked as her. Every step he took was heavier than the last, pulled down by the weight of everything that had happened. He stopped behind her.

"You're going to catch a chill," Machina said quietly.

Rem sniffled and shook her head stubbornly, refusing to move.

He sighed. He unclasped his cloak and draped the red fabric over her shoulders. Completely soaked, it did little to warm her, but he figured she would appreciate the gesture.

When she said nothing, Machina thought it was best to leave her alone. After another moment's contemplation and biting the inside of his cheek several times, he turned to leave.

He stopped when he felt her arms tighten around his shoulders from behind and the press of her face against his back. She was shivering from the cold and trembling from her tears. He cast his gaze downward, a single tear escaping the corner of his eye.

Machina turned slowly, facing Rem. When she looked up at him, tears and rain on her cheeks, his heart clenched painfully at the sadness he saw in her reddening burnt-rose eyes.

He reached out and pulled her against him, lowering his head onto her shoulder. At that, Rem finsally broke. She buried her face into the side of his neck, shaking uncontrollably as she exhaled hiccuping sobs. Her anguished cries tore at his heart, and all he could do was tighten his arms around her.

The rain never stopped that day, not even once.

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><p><strong>a  n:** _Wow, so I haven't touched ffnet for more than a year! I'm sorry! *gets down on knees* Ahem. If my FFVII readers are seeing this, one day (and hopefully soon) I will get back around to writing some Cloti but for now please bear with me.._

_Anyway! So, Type-0. The game is coming out in a week's time dsagdhasgdhk and I really just need it right now. It seriously has taken over my life. I require daily doses of Machina/Rem to survive. ;A; But until I have the game, I'll just have to make do with writing fanfiction and crying over how canon they are. I had fun writing this, and I'll eventually get around to some more — probably not as depressing as this, though. :) Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!_


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